Monday, December 29, 2008

the good, the sad, and the ugly

I never read Fashionista, but I happened across the site today and was intrigued by a post asking everyone to reveal their fashion secrets. I expected things like "double-stick tape", but people seemed intent on disclosing more intimate information. Instead of practical fashion tips, it revealed some interesting things about people's relationships with fashion. In a tribute to Jezebel's similarly titled fashion column, I've picked a few that stuck out:

The Good

"Always size up expensive shoes. Take them to your favorite cobbler and ask him to input Dr. Scholls comfort pads, and also place traction pads on the soles. That way, you can wear them hours longer thanks to the added comfort, and for years to come (without an unfortunate slip-and-fall incident). I've done it on all of my Louboutins and YSLs... there's even a guy on 8th avenue who caters to fashion editors... he places red traction pads on Louboutins for us!"

"i'm a guy, and sometimes when i'm home alone, ill put on a robe, pretend its a massive fur and wear my moms birkin and walk around the house and pretend i'm some park ave bitch."


"In my room, I blast my runway music on, and I do the runway walk."

"I equate fashion with movies. When someone only wears expensive designers, they're a big-budget, brainless summer movie, like Transformers or The Fast and the Furious. I see you with your label bag and your red-soled shoes and I think 'Popcorn Flick.'

The clever girls in their mix and match, high and low, new and vintage? They're indie films. They work harder, are smarter and more exciting. Gimme a Pulp Fiction girl anytime. I'll tell ya: I watched Transformers once last summer, and I'm done. I've seen Pulp Fiction twenty times over the past decade, and it still feels new. Save your money."

The Sad

"I'm a designer size zero and no matter how much I tell people I just eat healthy and work out the truth is I don't eat."

"if college is a time to reinvent yourself, I've done it by not eating and dressing far better. Its made me cry myself to sleep silently almost every night ( so my roommate doesn't hear) but all the compliments I receive makes it worth it."

"I want to be thinner than i am.
im a size 2/4 and feel huge"

"I am over weight and I go shopping alone and buy designer clothes that I can't wear."

"I wish I could get my eating disorder back. I admire the determination I had 3 years ago to be a zero. Ive really let myself go."

"i'm one semester away from completing my law degree and wish i were a fashion editor instead!"

"People think all my shoes are Marc by Marc Jacobs because it's just 'so Faran' but really, those are the only heels I can walk in without falling."

"I have alot of heartbreakingly beautiful clothes and shoes I never wear too!

They sit in my closet because they seem too precious for the world. Or at least the world of subways and pavements that I inhabit. They belong to shiny towncars and marble floors...

If I wear my heels on the street to work people stare at me and I HATE it. WANT to crawl under a rock...

I wish the world would freeze and I could skip around in my alligator prada pumps and vuitton patent and mink booties....

My husband encourages me to sell them all on ebay but to me that's admitting I never had the life for them and never will...."

The Ugly

"I've thought about it, and i would definately committ many crimes and felonies just so i could own a balenciaga city bag, or a large chanel 2.55."


"I aspire to be wealthy, i mean like a billionaire, just so i can dress like the olsen twins. that would make me happy, money makes me happy im definately corrupt inside."

"I don't return things - ever. And I sort of look down on those who do."

"I am horrifically embarrassed that I have friends that use fake designer goods. I don't brag about what I have but I wonder why they aren't ashamed to carry around and use fake Chanel when I have tons or real MJ collection and sometimes use my mother's real Chanel quilted flap."


Neither good nor bad but to which I can relate

"i have more expensive dresses than i have places to wear them"

"I put a lot of effort into my 'look' (what I wear) but if ever complimented/asked, I act like like I put no effort at all"

"im obsessed with fashion, but the people i've met working in the field make me want to move to an obscure country, do charity work for the rest of my life, and never read another fashion magazine or blog again."

"As a Parsons graduate with a career in fashion, everyone's secret has revealed to me what I have been feeling all along. Fashion makes people hate who they are and try to be something they're not. Fashion teaches us to hate the very things about us that makes us unique.. We should all embrace our flaws and secrets and know that love comes from within.. no amount of money, designer clothes and jewelry can ever fill that void."

5 comments:

KATLIN said...

Wow, what makes the sad truly sad is that those are all true for almost everyone in some way. And I especially love that last quote. This stuff really does make you look at the fashion industry in a superficial way... as much as we try to argue the art and culture side of it, there is so much built on image and fluff. Sometimes I wish I didn't care about this stuff because it can be so consuming, literally. *sigh*

ms. fox said...

that was mostly depressing, but the "i aspire to be a billionaire so i can dress like the olsen twins" made me LOL. that poor girl will probably never know that oversized flannel shirts and leggings are completely within her means.

allison said...

I couldn't help but laugh at the Olsen twins one, too. You need BILLIONS of dollars to dress like a hobo? Poser!

Anonymous said...

I also never read Fashionista, but this was such a nice little summary. The sad bits were.....depressing. But I can relate to the being a size 2 but still feeling fat bit. Fuck me, it's SAD. Thanks for putting this into a neat little post so I can continue to avoid Fashionista ;-)

Donna A. said...

Mmm, the last quote is probably the best and the worst because there is so much truth to that.

Fashion is different than style. The best thing I can compare it to is Spirituality and Religion.